


Can't Hurt To Be Hopeful

by kawhiet_energy



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, If You Squint - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawhiet_energy/pseuds/kawhiet_energy
Summary: "You can't keep doing that. People will get suspicious Carlos"Aka in which Carlos can't keep his hands to himself
Relationships: Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr, carlando - Relationship
Comments: 5
Kudos: 118





	Can't Hurt To Be Hopeful

**Author's Note:**

> There was a video that was almost like what happens in this fic but i can't seem to find it but [these pictures](https://landosmilkyway.tumblr.com/post/623254856188264448/dont-even-know-whats-going-on-here-but-im) should do the trick  
> Edit: Heres a [gif set](https://a-mind-full-of-you.tumblr.com/post/623470522947223552) of the same thing  
> Edit 2: lmao found [the video](https://landosmilkyway.tumblr.com/post/623462769198579713/landos-interview-with-spanish-media-a-little)  
> 

"You had an incredible drive, I mean P6! You must be happy," one of the reporters asked into the branded microphone before leaning it towards Lando.

Lando began to give his answer, waxing poetic about the team and how everyone played a part into today's result. Hopefully giving a sufficient answer that covers enough so he doesn't have to answer many more questions. He was tiered and honestly needed a break from the crowd of people he had to keep a constant polite smile on his face for.

Just outside his peripheral vision, Carlos had noticed him and decided that he wanted interject himself in whatever Lando was talking about. Carlos had noted the tight lipped smile and the cordial nod here and there in the right places that usually meant he would give almost anything to not have to be on camera at that moment. Lando hadn't noticed the figure coming over and neither had the reporter at first, too focused on prying information from the young driver. The camera picked it up as blurry white pixels becoming clearer as the Spaniard moved closer.

The reporter reacted first, giving Carlos a knowing smile that prompted him to bring his forefinger to his lips in an exaggerated shushing motion. Lando still hadn't noticed the interaction. And before he could, Carlos had his hands on either side of his waist, squeezing, accompanied by a loud, "Boo!"

As expected, an expletive was his reflexive reaction in the form of a shaken "Fuck!" that was narrowly beaten by a full body jump that jerked him away from the offending source of the noise as his arms flailed. The reporter gave a hearty a laugh and so did some bystanders that were close enough to witness the event. Realising that it was none other than his teammate, Lando squeal-laughed in the way he does not forgetting to ask, "Why would you do that you idiot? Almost gave me a heart attack."

Carlos was almost doubled over in laughter, not expecting such an animated response. The camera had zoomed in on Carlos still cackling with his right hand clutching his chest as he leaned back. Then smoothly panned back to Lando's scrunched face trying, and failing miserably, to hide his amused smile behind a scowl. 

Lando tried his best to give him a death stare but his flushed cheeks, upturned lips and deepening smile lines betrayed his side eye. "Enjoying yourself are you?"

"Very." Carlos' laughter had finally subsided but a toothy grin was still plastered on his face.

"Nice of you to join us Carlos," the reporter began, glee evident in their voice, "we're definitely going to find that on YouTube and Twitter later."

"Yes it might be as popular as the press conference incident with Daniel." That Spanish twang still overpowering his English. Carlos gave Lando a sideways glance while his delighted smile morphed into a smirk at the memory of the video.

"Yeah you wish." Lando's eyes had met his before Carlos looked back at the reporter.

Attentions shifted to Carlos after and that's when Lando noticed. Carlos' left hand still lingered on the side of his waist, thumb rubbing circles over the material of his shirt. His head snapped up sharply to look at the two people in front of him, thanking whatever deity up there that the camera was pointed at Carlos where he was stood just behind the shorter man. He just hoped that it was zoomed in close enough not to catch where Carlos' hand was placed.

Sensing Lando's tension, Carlos furrowed his brows in his direction. And to Lando's mortification, instead of removing his large hand from where it was, Carlos had slipped it to the curve of his hips squeezing a little. Carlos must have thought he was being comforting, Lando deduced, because that would explain the slight concerned looks Carlos flashed him. Lando was anything but comforted. He was rigid and stiff, and if anyone was paying close enough attention, they would notice even more of the white of his eyes were visible.

Still not grasping the scenario at hand, Carlos shuffled ever so slightly closer to Lando closing the small gap that was between them. Now, Lando could feel the deep rise and fall of Carlos' chest on his back. If he was anymore tense, he would lock up like his tires and be erased into the ground. Which didn't seem like the worst idea at that moment.

As inconspicuously as he could, Lando brushed his fingers over Carlos' knuckles hoping that he would pick up on what he was trying to communicate. His touch may have been too light at first because Carlos barely even flinched at he sensation. So, he tried it again. This time applying the tiniest bit more pressure; after all, he was still trying not to draw any attention to what was happening. Thankfully, Carlos turned to him in the middle of one of his responses. But that relief was short lived because instead of removing his hand, Carlos raised his eyebrows in genuine curiosity as if Lando had been trying to get his attention to make a humorous comment. Realising this, just before he would loose the older man's attention, he brushed his fingers over Carlos' knuckles one more time. 

You could almost pinpoint the exact moment everything pieced together in his head.

Being the naturally expressive person that he is, Carlos' eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up his forehead wrinkling the skin there. He stumbled through the last few words of his sentence, the reporter's eye's narrowed in confusion but he managed to compose himself before things got weird. Carlos synchronised dropping his hand from Lando's hips with a wide smile he flashed to the reporter, hopefully distracting them from that little episode. Again grateful to whatever forces were at work, everything happened too quick for the cameraman to pan around and capture the whole thing without giving the viewers whiplash.

With Operation Remove Carlos' Hand completed, Lando let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding.

The peaked adrenaline high of the interview followed by the subsequent crash almost made him forget to barge into his driver's room later.

***

"You can't keep doing that, people will get suspicious Carlos."

Lando found Carlos lounging on the sofa, phone in hand probably scrolling though Instagram, no care in the world as he stared at the glaring screen. At the sound of Lando's voice, he sat up bright white still shining from his phone.

"Let them get suspicious." He shrugged, over pronouncing the ' _s_ 'es in the way that is so uniquely Carlos. His bottom lip jutting forward.

For the thousandth time that day, an exasperated sigh escaped Lando's lips as his eyes stayed on Carlos. "We can't do that and you know it." Dejection seeped through his pores as he lamented about the fact that he'd probably never be able to claim his boyfriend in public like the other players could with their girlfriends. His bones ached with the fear that he would have to wait until his retirement to finally be able to share the most important part of his life. It plagued his thoughts a lot more than he would like to admit. The fear that Carlos would eventually get sick and tired of this clandestine thing they have going and leave him to be with someone he wouldn't have to hide. Someone he could post and show-off on his social media. Someone he could be seen with romantically in public without worrying about losing his job. He deserved that. He deserved happiness. And Lando would never hold it against him if he ever came to the decision to end what they have. As much as Carlos tried to reassure him that that would never happen, that he's with him for the long haul, those feelings never seem to go away. Not only did he have the issue of being with a man, but the fact that said man happened to be his teammate? Yeah that definitely wouldn't go down well.

"Well not yet anyway." It can't hurt to be a little hopeful.

Lando's gaze drifted to the floor as he went down his little dark train of thought and Carlos didn't fail to pick up what was happening in that head of his. "I know, I'm sorry cabrón." Now he was standing, noting that Lando hadn't made a move to get any closer. "I'll try not be..." he sifted through his English trying to find the right word, but to no avail, "so much-" yeah, that would do, "-next time". 

Understanding the rookie's frustration, himself not being a stranger to that feeling, he took the few steps necessary to stand right in front of Lando. "C'mere." 

He stretched his arms out and gestured his hands in a come hither motion. Contrary to popular belief, Lando was actually a pretty strong willed person behind the goofy laugh and endearing eyes. But something about Carlos' soft tone and inviting frame was so hard to resist. He always craved his teammate's touch, even when he played up his hate for PDA- platonic or otherwise- on camera, (well, if he was being honest, that's when he craved it the most. Because that's when he would be reminded that he actually couldn't touch Carlos in the way he wants without the fear of people digging too deep and finding their secret. He would then make it up to Carlos, and himself mainly, by sneaking into his motorhome after a race and clinging onto him until he fell asleep.) but the risk of them being found out was too high. Only a handful of people knew and they were sworn to secrecy.

And that's how Carlos found himself with a handful of the 5'8" Brit. His arms were wrapped around his middle, clasped hands resting on Lando's lower back. With his arms securely around the man, Carlos pulled him closer until Lando had to tilt his head up to meet his eyes. The palm of Lando's hands were rested on Carlos' chest, again feeling the deep inhale and exhale of his breath. Lando slowly slid his hands from where they were placed until they snaked around the taller man's neck, his fingers finding their favourite spot at the base of his skull carding through the curls there. 

Lando let out a deep breath from his nose, a lot of the tension from the day melting away.

Rich dark eyes looked into clear blues as Carlos smiled down at him. Carlos' gaze flitted from from Lando's hair line down to his chin and back to his eyes, "por qué eres tan guapo?"

Recognising the words Carlos would repeat constantly and only found the meaning of from Google after the seventh time Carlos refused to tell him, Lando's cheeks swelled and lips bunched in the way it does before his face would burst into a wide grin, showing off the small gap in his tooth. "Shut up," was all he could muster, no malice in his words at all. But Carlos continued.

"No seriously, eres la persona más hermosa que he visto."

Lando's hands were massaging the nape of his neck. "I don't know what you're saying."

"Me haces tan feliz que quiero estar contigo por el resto de mi vida." Carlos' hands unclasped from where they were rested, instead opting to slide down Lando's lower back until they passed over the swell of his ass. He couldn't help but give it a little squeeze. And if that made Lando melt into the older man anymore, well, no one has to know.

"Tell me what that one means."

"It means," Carlos dragged out the s at the end to allow himself to lean down closer to Lando's face. Their breath mingled and they could feel the faint touch of the tip of the other's nose on theirs. "You make me so happy." Lando didn't need to know the rest of that sentence, Carlos thought. He didn't believe the younger man was ready for such intensity yet.

"I know you said more than that, idiot. I'm English not dumb," Lando tried to pout but the upward tug at the corner of his lips exposed is true emotion. The flush of his cheeks definitely didn't help either.

"Easy mistake," Carlos quipped. But before Lando could object to the insult, Carlos added, "Not yet cariño. You will know soon, I promise."

And with that, Carlos swooped in taking Lando's soft lips with his. They glided over each other, undulating as they refamiliarized themselves with the other's mouth. Lando could feel Carlos smile against him which he couldn't help but reciprocate. The endearing scratch of the older man's beard was almost cathartic, reminding Lando of all the nights spent together even when they weren't _together._ That rough burn against his skin always present when things were going great. Its there in their hugs when Lando would nuzzle the crook of Carlos' neck; ever present when they'd be laid up in bed with the younger man almost completely splayed on top of Carlos; indubitable in the midst of a passionate session, steam radiating off them as Lando arched his back in search of the larger man above him. Caging his pliable body under Carlos' sturdy one, making sure his partner got to feel it from the deepest angle before being pulled in by the heavenly entrancing aura that seemed to be the most intoxicating around Lando's lips. He longed for that red raw feel whenever he saw the man.

Without either of them realising, their tongues had met. Dancing and oscillating in a rhythm they had a established a long while ago. Lando let out a shaky puff of air at the feeling of the other man's tongue tickling the roof of his mouth before it retreated and was swiftly replaced by his bottom lip catching between Carlos' teeth. Carlos gently pulled on it eliciting a strangled high pitched moan from Lando that was almost immediately swallowed by Carlos licking back into his mouth. While that was happening, Carlos had begun to knead the malleable muscle of Lando's ass. His fingers gently dug, pulled and tapped the supple flesh then soothed the area with the wide expanse of his palms drawing out little gasps from the twenty-year-old. Naturally, Lando's hand had moved from the back of Carlos' head to the side of his face, cradling his jaw right underneath his ears. His thumb tracing his cheekbone. 

Eventually, someone had to pull up for air and of course it was Carlos which earned a petulant whine from the other McLaren driver. He didn't move too far, Lando could still feel the staccato huffs of air fanning across his chin as Carlos chuckled.

Carlos tapped the bottom of Lando's ass where it met the top of his thighs. Lando instinctually knew what this meant and jumped up to wrap his legs around Carlos' middle, the latter making sure to support the former's weight. God, he absolutely loved being the stronger of the two. Able to manhandle and physically support Lando whenever it called for it, which came in _very_ handy behind closed doors. 

Carlos walked them to the sofa pressed against the wall of his little driver's room and sat them down. Lando's legs were planted either side of him, straddling him as he scooted forward to be as close to the Spaniard's broad chest as the sofa would allow. His hands regained their position bracketing his face before switching to rest around Carlos' shoulders.

"I hate hiding this," Lando spoke, slightly catching Carlos off guard, his feather-like breath tickling the sensitive skin on his neck.

"Yeah me too," he agreed, "soon we won't have to. I promise." Lando's head snuggled at the junction of Carlos' neck and collarbone which Carlos responded to by wrapping his arms around him, pulling him even closer to his heartbeat. 

"I hope you're right." 

He hoped so too.

**Author's Note:**

> Imma me be so sad when Carlos leaves next year :(((((  
> Its the way we've been robbed of so many carlando moments this season because of lockdown. Anyways fuck covid and wear your mask
> 
> Edit: Fuck Carlos.


End file.
